Apparatus for illustrating relation between economic profit and loss



'7 Sheets-Sheet 1 ATION Filed ot. 8, 1948 INVENTOR.

BY @and FQ i H Q Oct. 17, 1950 J. D. MooNEY APPARATUS FOR ILLUSTRATINGRELATION BETWEEN Economo PROFIT AND lI .oss

47 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed Oct. 8, 1948 l[l/ENTER T a ow BY am V'ddwa Oct.17, 1950 J. D. MooNEY 2,526,260 APPARATUS FOR ILLUSTRATING RELATIONBETWEEN ECONOMIC PROFIT AND LOSS '7 sheets-sheet :s

Filed Oct. 8, '1948 INVEN TOR.

Timm Lm BY e7 dal.

oct. 17,1950 2,526,260

J. D. MOONEY APPARATUS FOR ILLUSTRATING RELATION BETWEEN ECONOMIC PROFITAND LOSS Filed Oct. 8, 1948 7 Sheets-Sheet 4 IN V EN TOR. kavwf/Q k m9B@ 2me. o' QH;

Oct. 17, 1950 J. D. MooNEY 2,526,260

'APPARATUS FOR ILLUSTRATING RELATION BETWEEN ECONOMIC PROFIT AND LOSSFiled Oct. 8, 1948 `'7 Sheets-Sheet 5 4Z f6 F5 i f 'j a7 44 ,f 5

IN VEN TOR.

oct. 17,1950

J. D. MooNEY' 2,526,260 APPARATUS FOR ILLUSTRATING RELATION BETWEENECONOMIC PROFIT AND LOSS Filed Oct. 8, 1948 7 Sheets-Sheet 6 e: l\ IMIIIIHI||llIl||HIIIIHIIIIIIIIIIIIIIHIIIIIIIIIIIHIllllllllu lj- L O 1 wlTITIHIIIIIIIIllllllllllllllllllllllIIlIllllll|l|l|||l|l|lllllIlllllllllllllllllllll l n IN VEN TOR. v

Oct. 17, 1950 J. D. MooNEY 2,526,260

APPARATUS FOR ILLUSTRATING RELATION BETWEEN ECNOMIC PROFIT AND LOSSFiled oct. a, A1948 '7 Sheets-Sheet 7 INVENTOR.

/'ualwcz Sale;of goodsand prots.

tial solution of theproblem. since the chart as-zY Patented Oct. 17,1950 UNITE-o f STATE APPARATUSFOR ILEUSTRATING RELATION BETWEEN ECONOMICPROFIT `AND Loss l JamesD. Mooney, Oyster Bay, N. Y. Application October8, 1,7948, Serial No. 53,562

1 This invention relates tor-illustrating business economics by physicalanalogies'and usingsuch analogies as an aid to thei solution of businessproblems. 1

Circular charts divided into segments of .vary-, ing Asize havelongibeen used to illustrate the division of income into various-typesof `expenses andthe balance remaining, i. e., prots. Column charts 'havealso been employed. Such charts,` however, show the relationship;between a iixed set of conditions. In actual practice conditions neverare fixed and variations in: conditions produce mostr importantresults.it isfwell known thatwhile some cost itemsare directly proportional tosale or output volume,

others are not. As a result, when a factory is vworking atonlyone-thirdits full-capacity, it

may-lose money, whereas, Lvvithy no increase inY the sale price of itsproduct,v it would'make a handsome profit if it were operatingratfornear capacity.

ableV relation between the volume ofloutput or.

sumes all factors other ,than the volume of out For eXaInple,

This is onlyal par-f;

3 claims.` (clics-24) y my prior patent by reducing the-number ofoperating parts visible to the eye and hence reduce distracting featuresto a minimum.

' In the previous form of construction the liquid above each piston wasreturned to the sump by letting it run into the bottom ofthe cylinderand A further objecty of then drain out from there. Not only Was the Ydischargeflow of lioluidvisible, but also the valve operatinglmechaiismwhich permitted suchv discharge could `be seen.

the present invention,

' therefore,l is to providemeans for discharging the liquid above thepiston through the piston rod instead of intothat part o ffthecylinderbelow the piston, thereby concealing the discharge iiow` 0f.liquid.

As the piston rods 'are arranged so that their position can be adjustedvertically, it follows that level in.'` the sump into which'the liquiddischarges putvor salefofgoods-V are iixed. `Conse'tzluently,A

to show the result of varying these. otherfactors additional charts areneeded. i i

The chiel"-,Ob 1ect,f' therefore,l of thepresent linl vention is to`provide/simple means'ffor .demonstrating quantitativelvgas `well. asqualitativelm the effect of changing Iany oneor more of a *wholeyseriesof factors OrLthe nal-'desired result of the operationofany'bus'iness, vizz-fhowvmuch cash; is available, after'allzexpenseshaveV been paid,:

-fordistribution to its owner or Owners.

This is accOlimlshed,broadly speaking, byftdil,

viding a predetermined volume of liduid, corre-`v sponding to someselected iigure for Vfactoryoutput or sales, into a.seriesofilikewise;;predeter minedl smaller volumes, representing variousclasses of expenditures.v Itjaisz arm-atterbf di-f viding income into aseriesof outgoes and-,noting what is left over.Y

In my prior United AStates Pate r1tl\To.'v 2,297,011, issued September291942,-apnaratus.;of this. gerierall type was illustrated,- While-inmany .1 -ef,

Vspects the apparatus shownV in that patent is similartothe presentonerin'other ways it has: been very materially m/odified, ;simpliiied,`and improved. i

In demonstrationl apparatus ofthe-present typ'e the fewer distractionsthe better. Where much of the working Inechanisnni exposed Avto view,there is., a. strongtendency Lto watchA the wheels go round insteadfofQobsefr'ving the-eiects simulating the economic lchanges demonstrated. A

fand laws to be,

the point of discharge of liquid .therefrom varies likewise.` With thepiston rod near its top posil tion, there is necessarily considerabledistance Attempts Vhavegibeen madel to chart this varibetweenthebottomfof the rodl Yand the liouid so fthatf-unless `means are takento prevent it, considerable splashing will occur.

`A iixedsleeve -surroundingfth'e lower lpart of the piston rod cannot beusedeasit would inter-1 fere with the valve `operating mechanism at'thelower end of the rod. According to this inveny tion, therefore,splashing Ofthe'lioluidl leaving the pistn rods is' avoided bv attachingnexibie canvasl orv similar tubes to the bottomY of each piston rod.These iiexible tubes collapse as the rods" ,arelowered so that theirdischarge ends are v of each cylinder liquid tight, with` severalresult-` ing'disadvantages, or allowingliouid to slop over themachine,anrundesirable method.

For demonstration purposes themain parts of the -apoaratus'should not bemore "than chest high'. fThisrestricts the vertical space for theworking` parts". .With limited 'available height,

` the. piston rods cannot be' made much longer tliln'thecylinders landhence parts at least of suchrods entering the cylinders have to"beprovided with threadsor4 rack teethb'vwhich they canbevrnovednverticallyf The presence of these threadsor rack teethprevents the use of glands to ensure a Vtight joint. Y This necessitatesan upstandngfcollar or sleeve surrounding the piston to preventliouidpassing outfaround the piston rod. YA similary difficultylwasexperienced with the-earlierconstruction in 4connection with thesquare'. section rotatable valveopeningr rod which passed vthrough thebottom of thefcylinder. v

' Another disadvantage of the earlier apparatus 'ventiel :1S filoillimitate?@magasine-slimmey WSfihai-ihs valve@ .the .Pisten was raisedand lowered by turning a Vertical rod about its axis. This requiredcomplex mechanism for converting angular motion about a Vertical axisinto linear Vertical to and fro motion.

According to the present invention, the valve is mounted on top of a rodinside the hollow bore of the piston rod. The lower end of this rod iSattached to a crank on a horizontal shaft mountedY in the bottom of thepiston rod.

With this new construction it is necessary to connect the various shaftsat the bottoms of the. piston rods with a control shaft in Suche, waythat the piston rods can be raised or lowered without change in therelative angular position of the two shafts. While this may beaccomplished by bevel gears on both the main shaft and each individualshaft operatively connected byv bevel gears at the ends of acorresponding series of telescopic cross-shafts, a simpler method is touse sprocket and chain connections which permit the same relativemovements.

A further object is to provide a construction by which the height of thepistons in each cylinder can be rapidly and easily adjusted by hand,thereby avoiding the expense and complication resulting from the use ofelectric motors for such purpose.

In the earlier construction, the piston rods were threaded and wereraised and lowered by turning nuts on the rods. This involves many turnsof the nuts to move the piston rods from topmost to` lowerinostposition. Consequently, electric motors .were used to turn the nuts.

According tothe present invention, the piston rods are raised andloweredby racks and pinions.

Two or three turns of the pinions is all thatrisshow-n, by way ofexample, in the accompanyingdrawings, in which:

Fig. 1 shows one of the prior art economic cross-over or break-evenpoint charts;

Fig. 2 is a perspective View of'the apparatus as a whole; Y Y

Fig. Sis a front elevation, partly in section, of.

Sales capacity is the only variable, so the chart is capable of showingthe .Economic cross-over range for a fixed sale price for the goods andfixed costs only. While .some of the costs, such as labor and materialJvary with the sales output, the basis for computing them is fixed.v Ifwages go up 15% and material costs rise 9%, the chart is useless. Itwill be evident that the Economic cross-over range will occur at ahigher sales output, but at what Value of output cannot be told from thechart. Another chart would have to be drawn to take into account the newwage rates and material cost figures.

The apparatus of Figs. 2 to 13 comprises a cabinet I on casters I Iwhich serves the double purpose of supporting the tanks and cy-indersrequired for demonstrating tite economic laws hydraulically and ofconcealing the working parts from View.

On a shelf I 2 near the top of the cabinet is a Cash incomel tank I5arranged to be supplied with a predetermined amount of a suitable liquidsuch as colored water, by a pipe I6 including valve I'I and sump IBdriven by a motor I9 from a sumptank 28.

A T-connection 22, in the pipe i6, couples the latter to a pipe 23leading to the sumpto enable liquid in 'tank I5 to be drained olfpartially or wholly. A' valve 24 opens and closes thisv pipe 23.

At a lower level than the tank I5 are a series of cylinders 25 to 32. lApipe 313 equippedvwith a valve 35 is provided for'discharging the fluidA charges, Direct labor, Indirect labor, Direct those parts of theapparatus which are vital from the demonstration viewpoint; .Y Fig. Llis a detail elevation partly in section of two adjacent cylinders;

Fig. 5 is a vertical central-section through one of the pistons, itspiston rod, valve and associated operating parts ;Y v

Fig. 6 is a section on the line 6 6 otFe. 5; Fig. i is a section on theline 1 -'i `of Fig, 5;

, Fig. 8 is as ection Q11 the line 8 -8 of Fig. 5;

Fig. 9 is a perspective diagrammatic View of the main valve-controlshaft, piston-rod shafts, intermediate `jack-shafts, and the connectingchains and sprockets;

Fig. 10 is an end elevation of one of the Valve control chain and linkset-ups;

Fig. ll is a section on the line I I.-I I of Fig. 10; Fig. 12 is adetail end view with parts broken away of the piston rod raising andlowering mechanism; and

Fig. 13 is a section on the line I3-I3'of Fig.

The chart shown in Fig. 1 is given to illustrate the prior art type ofchart with one variableA only. One ordinate I is a scale of Values Theother ordinate 2 is a scale of Co"ts and Profit The abscissa 3 is ascale of Sales capacity.Y

materials, Other factory expenses, General and administrative, SalesexpensesV and Gross prots.

The division of income from sales into the various 'expense itemsand'ultim'ate gross profit each cylinder available for` the receipt ofliquid tocontrol the proportionof liquid received by each cylinder tocorrespond with the proportion of Cash income which must be credited toTo enable specic situations to be demonstrated, scales representingdollars of cash income and expenditures are provided. Alongside the tankI5 is a numbered vscale 39 `and a series of num--v bered scales 4B areprovided at the side of "each cylinder. The scale beside the Cashincometank reads from the bottom upwardly because 4it is drained to i'lll theexpenditure and proiit cylinders. The scales beside the cylinders,except the last one, read from the top down, since the amount of liquidthey contain.r varies from, the

top down to the top ofthe pistons in the various cylinders.

r-Ihe construction of the pistons andthe mech` anism for raising andlowering themjis shown Vin detail in Figs. 5, c, 11, 12 and 13. Eachpiston resting on a shoulder on the hollow piston rod 43. The upper disk42 has threaded engagement with the upper end of the rod 48. Y Clampedbetween these disks is a cup leather 45.

Secured to one side of each piston rod is a rack 46 with which meshes apinion 41 on a shaft 48.

Non-rotatably mounted on the same shaft is a worm wheel 49, turned by aworm E] on shaft 5 I A hand wheel 52 allows the worm to be rotatedmanually. The piston rod and rack is held against the pinion 51 by aguide wheel 54 and steadied laterally by guide wheels 55.

At the end of each operation of the apparatus, each cylinder has to beemptied and the liquid returned to the sump 20. This is done by raisinga valve 56 off its seat on the top of the hollow piston rod, therebypermitting the liquid to flow down through the piston rod. For raisingand lowering thevalve 55, the latter is mounted on the tcp of a lrod 51,the lower end of which. is connected to a shaft 58 by a crank 59." Whenthe crank is in its lowermost position, as shown in Fig. 5, the valve isclosed. As shown in Fig. 8, the valve 58 has threaded engagement withthe top of the rod 51 so that the vertical position of valve can beaccurately adjusted. A lock-nut 6i holds the valve in adjusted position.

The shaft 58 is journalled in a fitting 68 secured by a set-screw 61(Fig. 5) to the bottom of the piston rod. Means are provided for turningall of the shafts 58 and their cranks 59 simultaneous 1y through thesame angle irrespective of the vertical positions of the piston rods.`This requires that the piston rods can rise and fall without changingthe angular position of the cranks.

The mechanism for turning the shafts 58 and their cranks 59 is showndiagrammatically in Fig. 9. There is a single main control shaft 8ladjacent the .lower part of the apparatus. It is turned manually, whendesired, by a handle 82 at a convenient height above the ground connect-65, and shaft B6.

Parallel to the shaft 6l lare a series of jack shafts 18, each of whichis pivotally connected to the shaft 5l by a pair of interconnected links1l. Each shaft 18 is also pivotally connected to the shaft V58 of theadjacent piston rod by a pair of interconnected links 12. Shaft 5I isrotatably connected to shaft 19 by sprocket 13, chain 14, and sprocket15. In turn, shaft is rotatably connected to shaft 58 by sprocket 16,chain 11, and sprocket 18.. v

The pairs of links 1I and 12 permit the shafts 58 to rise and fall withthe piston rods without changing Ythe spacing between the shafts 6l and1l), on theone hand, and the shafts 10 and'58 on the other. Thesprocket-chain connections between the three shafts allows the shafts 58to rise and fall without changing their angular position. To preventliquid discharged through the hollow pistonY rods splashing when itstrikes the liquid in the sump 2D, thin-walled flexible canvas orsimilar tubes 89 are attached to the bottom of each-piston rod, as shownin Fig. 5. These flexible tubes are long enough to reach the bottom partof the sump 20 when the piston rods to which they are attached are intheir uppermost positions. As the rods are moved downwardly the lowerends of these flexible tubes strike the bottom of the sump and arepushed sideways.

I claim:v

1. A device for illustrating the distribution of 31 comprises two disks4I and 42, the lower one l income between a series of classifiedexpenditures, comprising a row of vertical transparent cylinders eachopen at the top for receiving liquid to represent money expended, an`overflow spout at one side of each cylinder, a piston and piston rod ineach cylinder, the piston rods'extending ldownwardly from the pistonsand being hollow to a1- low discharge of liquid above the pistons whendesired, valves for closing the bore in said rods at their upper end,means for opening and closing said valves operable independently of thevertical position of said pistons and piston rods, a

shallow sump extending the length of said row of cylinders belowv thelower ends of the piston rods'to receive liquid discharged Yfrom thecylinders through said rods, and a collapsible eXtension from the lowerend of each of said rods into said sump to prevent splashing of liquidduring such discharge.

l rods at their upper end, means for opening and closing said valves, ahorizontal valve-control shaft parallel to the row of cylinders, ahorizontal shaft parallel to the valve-control shaft rotatably mountedon the lower .part'of each piston rod for operatingsaid valve openingand'closing means,

' and operative connections between the valvecontrol shaft and each ofthe' shafts mounted on thel piston rods constructed so as to allow theshaft on each piston rod to move vertically as a whole with such rodwithout change in the relative angular position of the shafts.

3. A device as claimed in claim-2 in which each of the operativeconnections between the valvecontrol shaft and each of the shafts on thepiston rods comprises a pair of sprockets, one non-rotatably'mounted onthe valve-control shaft and the other'non-rotatably mounted on thepiston-rod shaft, another pair of sprockets non-rotatably mounted on ajack shaft, links, kone connecting said valve-control shaft to the jackshaft and another connecting the'jack shaft to the piston-rod shaft tomaintain the spacing between said shafts constant while permitting therotation of said shafts, and a pair of chains one operatively connectingthe sprocket on the valve-control shaft to one of the sprockets on thejack shaft and the other operatively connecting the other sprocket onthe jack shaft with the sprocket on the pistonrod shaft.

t' JAMES D. MOONEY.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the iile ofthis patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Mooney Sept. V29, `1942

